Hi, airborne,
Check out the "Carving Tools: Must Have Carving Tools" thread. There's about 4 pages of discussion.
First thing you need is not a knife, but a carving glove. Or thumb and index finger protectors. It amazing how often those fingers get nicked while carving. Then a smooth stick, and a pencil. Finally, a rather small knife. As I mentioned in the above thread, I started w. a cheap Stanley pocket knife w. a blade that was maybe 1.5" long. When I was a kid, it was just whatever pocket knife I happened to have. Now, most of that kind of carving is done w. a Mora carving knife, a short Flexcut straight edged knife (one of the ones in their starter set) and sometimes an Exacto. You will likely want something to sharpen them with. Little diamond hones work nicely to touch up an edge. I have a 1200 grit ceramic honing rod that doubles as a final finishing surface for the wood itself.
Oh, and someplace w. strong directional light. Nothing brings out relief work like a good raking light.
Check out the "Carving Tools: Must Have Carving Tools" thread. There's about 4 pages of discussion.
First thing you need is not a knife, but a carving glove. Or thumb and index finger protectors. It amazing how often those fingers get nicked while carving. Then a smooth stick, and a pencil. Finally, a rather small knife. As I mentioned in the above thread, I started w. a cheap Stanley pocket knife w. a blade that was maybe 1.5" long. When I was a kid, it was just whatever pocket knife I happened to have. Now, most of that kind of carving is done w. a Mora carving knife, a short Flexcut straight edged knife (one of the ones in their starter set) and sometimes an Exacto. You will likely want something to sharpen them with. Little diamond hones work nicely to touch up an edge. I have a 1200 grit ceramic honing rod that doubles as a final finishing surface for the wood itself.
Oh, and someplace w. strong directional light. Nothing brings out relief work like a good raking light.
